Best Horror Movies for Grownups 2025

Companion, R

This eerie sci-fi satire got 2025 off to a rollicking start in January in theaters. Its swipes at artificial intelligence make it feel pretty topical for a scary movie. Sophie Thatcher stars as a love robot who slowly starts to wake up to the fact that she’s not human. This doesn’t end well for her smarmy owner (played by Jack Quaid, son of Dennis Quaid and Meg Ryan). If you missed Companion in theaters, do yourself a favor and stream it now.

Where to watch it

Drop, PG-13

This one’s more of a twist-filled thriller than a body-count chiller, and it’s a blast. Meghann Fahy stars as Violet, a widowed mom who steps out of her comfort zone by going on a dinner date and leaving her young son at home with her sister. But before the entrées arrive, Violet’s being taunted and threatened on her phone by a psycho with her son in his sights. Could the man sitting across the table be involved in this sick cat-and-mouse game? If Hitchcock were still directing in the smartphone era, this feels like the kind of movie he’d make.

Where to watch it

Horror Movies for Grownups in Theaters in 2025

Coming on July 18

I Know What You Did Last Summer, R

The original I Know What You Did Last Summer arrived in theaters right on the heels of Scream, ushering in a ’90s horror golden age. What’s old is new again in this reboot, which repeats the plot — a group of friends cover up a hit-and-run accident, only to be stalked by a stranger who knows their secret — and comes with some familiar faces (Jennifer Love Hewitt, Freddie Prinze Jr., 49). Think of this as a stroll down memory lane, but with a guy with a giant, rusty fishhook.

Coming on July 30

Together, R 

Real-life husband and wife Dave Franco and Alison Brie star in this psychological creepfest about a couple who try to reboot their marriage by moving to the country. But since when was that ever a good idea in a horror movie? A supernatural encounter in the woods leads to some disturbing new twists in their relationship.

Coming on September 5

The Conjuring: Last Rites, R

It’s time to say, “So long, and thanks for all the nightmares” to Ed and Lorraine Warren, every horror hound’s favorite husband-and-wife ghost-hunting team (played, as always, by Patrick Wilson, 52, and Vera Farmiga, 51). The word is that this is the last chapter in the haunted house series. But if horror movies have taught us anything, it’s that’s nothing’s ever truly dead for good. Especially when there’s the possibility of a lucrative sequel involved. 

Coming on September 12

The Long Walk, R

Another month, another Stephen King adaptation from a 1979 novel. Cooper Hoffman (son of the late, great Philip Seymour Hoffman) headlines the cast as one of many young men who are forced to participate in a contest where they must keep walking until there is only one person left. If you stop, you’re executed. Shades of The Hunger Games! We’re intrigued by the casting of Star Wars’ Mark Hamill, 73, as the heavy.

Coming on September 19

Him, R

The latest creepy provocation from Get Out’s Jordan Peele looks disturbing and intense. A college football star pushes himself to some dark extremes in his quest for greatness. How far is he willing to go to achieve his dreams? And what’s really going on with the quarterback star (Marlon Wayans, 52) who invites hopefuls to train at his remote compound? With Peele as a producer, Him is bound to have some freaky twists under its helmet.

Coming on September 26

The Strangers: Chapter 2, R

Director Renny Harlin (Cliffhanger) takes the reins again for this blood-soaked sequel that looks like pure nightmare fuel. A trio of masked bogeymen are back to finish off what was left undone from the film’s 2024 lead-in. The guy with the burlap sack over his head seems especially like someone you don’t want to find standing outside your door on a dark, rainy night in the middle of nowhere.

Coming in November

Frankenstein, R

Mary Shelley’s mad scientist and his monstrous creation get remade and reinterpreted by every generation. The latest version of this Gothic classic comes from Netflix and the macabre mind of Guillermo del Toro, 60 (The Shape of Water, Pan’s Labyrinth), so you know it will look stunning. We’re not sure how they’re going to possibly make Jacob Elordi look horrifying as the monster, but Oscar Isaac feels very, very right as the deranged doc, Victor Frankenstein. “It’s aliiiiive!” 

Coming on December 25

Anaconda, not yet rated

Who can forget the 1997 original, which plopped a Mad Libs assortment of Hollywood stars (Jennifer Lopez, Ice Cube, Jon Voight) onto a rickety barge on the Amazon and then sent some really big snakes their way? Let’s hope this equally star-studded reboot (Jack Black, 55, Paul Rudd, 56, and Thandiwe Newton, 52) is as gloriously self-aware as the original. Plus, what could spell Christmas Day more than seeing Anaconda on the big screen?